untjim1995

I agree with all you say here, but I also just think of how big time TCU got by winning in a league full of well-respected football programs. If they could do that, I believe we could, too. Now, the best way to go out there is to go with UTEP and UH or UTSA.

FIFY

This. Boise State, Fresno State, Air Force, San Diego State, Nevada, and Hawaii have all been well-known commodities in college football for a long time now. Even Colorado State used to be a staple in the Top25 every year. New Mexico, UNLV, Utah State, and now, SDSU, are solid college hoops programs, too. There is no one in CUSA right now, other than the old USM teams, that can compare with the teams listed above in college football. Western Kentucky might be able to compete with them, but that's about it. CUSA is fine, for now. Its the SBC 2.0 with CUSA leftovers that couldn't move to the AAC. But I don't see it ever being a better league than the MWC or AAC, respect wise. And with SMU in the AAC, we aren't ever going there until they leave, so the other option above us that has some appeal, at least to me, is the MWC. TCU showed us the blueprint to compete with those teams out west. Utah and BYU left, but they got replaced by Boise State and Fresno State, so its still about the same level of competition, in my opinion. I just think we could easily copy TCU if we were in a similar situation and took the same attitude that TCU did in competing with those MWC teams.

You'd have to see SMU leave there first for that to even possibly happen. We sit directly in their TV footprint, which does matter for that far-flung league. I'd love it, too, but its not a possibility at all. Now, if you want to talk MWC, there's your road to pave...if TCU could do it out there, so could we. Seriously...

Its just like coaching at Texas versus North Texas...one has everything imaginable at the snap of your fingers, while the other has to scrap and claw for anything they need. Its a tad easier to win when you already have the money, facilities, tradition, and talent at your feet. Shocking, I know, but Todd Dodge isn't stupid. He got a huge raise to go to UNT from SLC, he just failed miserably here. Now, he gets to find another rich, suburban HS to coach and win at.

That's just it...the old CUSA is now the AAC. The new CUSA is just the best of the old SBC. Its just how the ladder goes. If you think any of those AAC teams want anything to do with us, your crazy. Some, UH and SMU, never wanted us in a league to begin with. The others that could leave as soon as possible, ECU, Tulane and Tulsa, did. You have to replace those teams with someone. To me, having two teams in south Florida wasn't too smart, but WKU replaced East Carolina, we replaced SMU, UTSA replaced UH, F_U replaced UCF and USF, and MUTS replaced Memphis. To me, the biggest mistake was taking Charlote and ODU, two teams that should be in the SBC, immediately because ECU wanted them--only to then see ECU bolt out as soon as they could, which was clearly going to happen as soon as possible.

I think the MAC is overrated mostly because it is centered around East Coast and Midwest media outlets, as opposed to the SBCUSA. We can and should be better than the MAC over time. I don't think we will be that far from the AAC or the MWC, either, in our best years, but they have some strong teams year in and year out. The worst CUSA years will look like the SBC and MAC are better leagues, though.

With Tulane leaving, I still think Southern Louisiana is worth having a presence. When I say footprint, in terms of our league's affiliation, I think about it in terms of recruiting and travel for the schools and fans. I agree with you completely on the TV part, though. ULL would be a great conference mate again.

I would defintiely add ULL, without thinking about it--and Arkansas State, too. But I wouldn't add Texas State, since they dont provide any new footprint for the conference, since UTSA is already there. ULL and Arkansas State would be nice adds to the league, in my opinion. I have no interest in playing anyone in the east, at all, except for MUTS or Marshall. If you have 16 teams in league, you get 7 games in your division, all of which are driveable, then add in two games in the other division and 3 OOC games. It would be a pretty good deal for us to have games against Arky State, Southern Miss, La Tech, ULL, Rice, UTSA, and UTEP every year, with a sprinkling of just two east teams, say MUTS and F_U, each year. Costs go down, attendance goes up, and you can build rivalries easier.

They fired him after he had 3 winning seasons in 9 years. And in his three winning seasons, his teams beat exactly 2 non-SBC teams that were also FBS schools, Cincy and Baylor. And the fanbase abandoned him long before he got fired, since we were all MFers in his view, while he coached at the WORST JOB IN AMERICA (his exact words, since he worked here everyday). He stayed as long as he did because he was friendly with the BOR and didn't cost much.

Dan Wolken is probably in line to be the next Eric Capper if he ever leaves UNT... Todd Dodge, Shanice Stephens, and Tony Benford for head coaches in the 3 revenue sports, all hired by the same AD. And said AD just received an extension... Congratulations, RV--you have to have the most secure job of any AD in America. I'm not even kidding, either.

Don't forget, after he promised that, he would then tell the team that the die-hard 2000 fans we have are really MFers...then he would tell Brett Vito that this was the worst job in America, that he knows because he works here everyday. But we would only lose 45-6 against name your OOC powerhouse by just running the ball into the line of scrimmage on three straight downs, which wwould then be followed by a beautiful punt from one of our All-American punters, who will eventually not be able to walk when they get older becuase ofthe overuse of their legs during their college careers. And for real fun, we will break out the Hutch Black Jersey Night as our promotion, with a special drawing to fight the OC in the stands, without said OC even getting reprimanded... But we would never lose to FIU or another spare SBC team by 35 points, either...so DIckey would always have scoreboard on Todd Dodge for that, since we would be behind to one of those schools by about 3 TDs at halftime under Todge. BTW, I now love Dan McCarney even more after typing this post...

I've always argued that we really quarter-assed it with athletics funding for decades, and only recently, have bumped it up to half-assed. With Coach Mac's salary being more than double than Todd Dodge's salary, but about half of what June Jones makes, it lets you know where we sit on the funding, just as the reality of keeping Tony Benford around shows that we aren't ready to go full bore at not being a loser. The new stadium is absolutely wonderful and the Super Pit remains a great venue for college hoops, so the facilities funding has been done at a much better rate than personnel funding, but even with that, when you combine the fact that it took a stealth campaign to get the stadium funded and the student fee that other traditional power schools in Texas, like UTSA and Texas State, get to charge a higher rate for in perpetuity, our leadership made that fee much lower than UTSA and Texas State and also allowed it to be "sunset-able"in the future. There is no doubt we have improved funding, support, and facilities in the last 5-10 years, but from where we came from, it really is about going from quarter-ass to half-ass in terms of athletic spending, as compared to our non-AQ compadres.

Get the popcorn ready...

Exactly... Todd Dodge was just Vic Trilli as a football coach--a great family man, a man who helped to get huge facilites improved, and was good in front of a microphone or camera (unlike his predecessor). We NEVER would have goitten Fouts replaced if Todd Dodge didnt keep that issue in front of the BOR during any press interviews he did, maintaining that he was promised that a new stadium was in the works even though it ended up taking the stealthiest campaign the university could have put on to get it approved. Apogee never gets built if Dodge doesn't force the issue to keep it on the front burner, which forced the university to eventually have to do something. UNTFlyer took care of most of the campaign, but Todd Dodge gave it the full attention it deserved. But he was an incredible under-achiever as a football coach, since he had no one on staff for basically two years that had little-to-no college experience. It was right for him to get fired, as it actually happened later than it really should have, but the university wouldn't buy out two years of his contract. He just wasn't the right fit here, just like Dickey wasn't, Simon wasn't, and Parker wasn't. Corky Nelson might have been if he had an administration to even attempt to care about sports. What makes me feel better is to know that we currently do have a coach that is the right fit--I just wonder how much longer he will stay here if he gets an offer from an AQ team. I still think he will get a call from Kansas at the end of this year, assuming Weis has another terrible year. He knows that league, that area of the country, and would be able to get another rebuilding gig, which he seems to specialize in. We'll see, but that is my biggest concern with Coach Mac at this point in time...because he really is the best fit for this place.

You missed the real eye-opener in this thread...that super-rich, Appalachian located, Marshall Univesrity violated all known Values Athletic Spending Rules by paying for TWO years of the coaching contract of their previous coach to leave. That won't win you any "Atheltic Department Value" National Championships//UNT BOR

Why does that matter? They both show off their rivalry in the fight song. A lot of Longhorns act like they don't care about the Aggies, just the Sooners. But the Longhorns have the arrogance that has created the situation they are in right now. The Aggies are an easy group to laugh at or to draw offsides, but they also have created for them quite a nice place for the future with the SEC. IN the end, its doubtful that these teams will play each other in anything in a regular season game for years to come.

Welcome to the big time, TCU!!

The most interesting aspect to me about all of this is how a school like SMU is going to handle this. I wonder if they will keep football as it is, or move down a peg or two to FCS or Division III, or just quit altogether. They draw flies now, with a good coach in a league full of teams we would die to play each week in conference play. Whats it gonna look like when the AAC is a glorified FCS league? They cannot buy their way in, no matter what they say or think. At UNT, we've been used to playing the left-behinds of college football for decades. Its nothing new to us if we have to play a game against Middle Tennessee and its at a lower level. Neither of us are ever going to get included upward to the P5. But a team like SMU, with all its history and money, will have to lower its pride even further when this happens. Its been tougher than anyone couldve imagined on the Hilltop just by getting left behind in their SWC days. Imagine what it feel like if they aren't even considered Division 1 anymore?

All the time we wasted on gmg.com comparing Brock Berglund and Scotty Young...me included...and neither plays FBS ball a year later.

"Texas Fight" Texas Fight! Texas Fight! And it's goodbye to A & M. Texas Fight! Texas Fight! And we'll put over one more win. Texas Fight! Texas Fight! For it's Texas that we love best. Hail, Hail, the gang's all here, And it's goodbye to all the rest! Yea, Orange! Yea, White! Yea, Longhorns! Fight! Fight! Fight! Texas Fight! Texas Fight! Yea, Texas Fight! Texas Fight! Texas Fight! Yea, Texas Fight! The 'Eyes of Texas' are upon you, All the live long day! The 'Eyes of Texas' are upon you, You cannot get away! Texas Fight! Texas Fight! For it's Texas that we love best! Hail, Hail, the gang's all here! And it's goodbye to all the rest! "The Eyes of Texas" The eyes of Texas are upon you, All the live long day. The eyes of Texas are upon you, You cannot get away. Do not think you can escape them, At night, or early in the morn. The eyes of Texas are upon you, 'Till Gabriel blows his horn!

ONly difference is that nobody would believe Charlie Strong if he said that. When Mac said it, is was very believable for two huge reasons: 1.) We were coming off of a stretch of football where we went 8-40 in the previous 4 years of the Todd Dodge Experiment. 2.) At least with the small part, he was spot-on. When he got here, our lines looked like a below-average FCS team in size that spring. By the start of the season, the OL began to look bigger, and by the end of the year, it looked legitmate. Last year, our DL was saw the same type of improvement. This is what Mac is known for and why is a perfect fit for UNT right now. Development of the lines will make us a contender in CUSA for a years to come, just as it did in the the old SBC days under Dickey, when we could run the ball at will on any of those SBC teams and our DL was too talented to stop. It won't be sexy, but running a ball-control offense will make our defense better, just as it did in those SBC "glory" years. The biggest difference between then and now is that we actually play a few teams people have heard of and care about, plus we have a charismatic coach at the helm, not a guy who loathed the fans and the school.

Hell, we gave Vic Trilli a 4th year after he had gone a whopping 16-63 in three years for a winning percentage of .203, because to fire him would have cost money. Instead, we heard all the same ol' UNT excuses we always hear when a failing coach has multiple years left on a contract in a money sport--just give him a chance, he knows this is the year that will make or break him, this is the year that he finally all of his guys, etc...How did Vic Trilli repay the university for giving him a 4th year when it was apparent he couldn't outcoach the worst Denton YMCA coach? By knocking down a sweet 4-24 year in the penultimate swing year, ending that glorious UNT tenure for 4 years at 20-87, a winning % of .187. But he did save us a few hundred thousand dollars, so I think we won the "AD Values Tournament" that year... Todd Dodge went 6-37 and got fired in the middle of the 4th season, giving him a winning percentage of .140. But he saved us hundreds of thousands of known dollars by not buying him out, so I think we won another AD Values Title that year, too. Tony Benford will be the same--there is not a doubt in my mind. As long as he wins more than 7 games next year, he will get that 4th year, guaranteed. Its just how we do it here. We go by "known costs" over unknown costs when it comes to athletic spending. Maybe we do it differently when it comes to music and arts funding--I really don't know. But I know that you don't just fall into "Best AD Values Trophies"..you gotta earn those suckers!! Way to go BOR and typical Dentonite that hates UNT sports!! I hope your recitals and exhibits can bring in tons of $$$ to be the window to the university for a long time from the dozens that show up to those performances. Too bad that the thousands of people who have shown that even a decent UNT team will get them to at least come and watch a--gasp!!--athletic endeavor on campus NEVER seem to get considered as a primary funding group for the university. After all, we don't KNOW what they will spend or if they will come, but we KNOW what this coach costs us each year that we guaranteed him a contract for into the future!!

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24518398/cbssportscom-2014-15-ridiculously-early-preseason-top-25-and-one Take a look at who comes in at #12 on this list...

How is that nothing of substance? You basically said that you thought Todd Dodge was the best coach for our program and that you figured Shanice Stephens would be, too. They turned out to be the absolute worst coaches in winning percentage we have ever seen here. That's no small feat--we ain't exactly a historical athletic juggernaut...